J.J. Grey brings a new attitude to Marshfield festival

Sunday

Jul 2, 2017 at 12:01 AMJul 2, 2017 at 6:49 PM

"Over the last four or five years, I've come to realize I'm living the dream. I'm not just some lousy singer in a band, but someone who's doing well. We even got to play at the White House, so you've got to stop and appreciate it all,” said Grey.

By Jay N. Miller/For The Patriot Ledger

When we first heard J.J. Grey and Mofro, the Jacksonville singer/songwriter and his band were playing at Brighton Music Hall for about 300 fans, just after the release of his third album, 2007’s “Country Ghetto.” That dazzling shot of rock, soul, blues, funk, and the kind of swamp-rock Tony Joe White favored, became Grey’s breakthrough, and a year later the band was selling out the nearly 1,000-capacity Paradise Rock Club.

A string of fine albums followed on the national Alligator Records label (“Orange Blossoms” in 2008, “Georgia Warhorse” in 2010, the live “Brighter Days” in 2011, and “This River” in 2013), as Grey became a major figure in both the rock and jamband scenes, headlining places like the 1,500-capacity House of Blues in Boston, or bigger places like The Orpheum Theater, not to mention festivals all around the world.

It was by any measure a rapid rise to the top, but Grey himself was struggling, still plagued by doubt and insecurity, frequently cranky for no special reason, and not enjoying the success he and his bandmates had worked so hard through years of relentless touring to achieve.

Grey and Mofro will be one of the featured acts at the Levitate Music and Arts Festival at the Marshfield Fairgrounds on July 9, and his last album, 2015’s “Ol’ Glory” found him in a more optimistic frame of mind, a general feeling of appreciating all that any life has to offer.

It hadn’t just been the infectiously danceable grooves of his band’s music, and his sweat-drenched live shows that accounted for Grey’s popularity, however, as his songwriting took chances and made connections that weren’t obvious in other writers. The song “Country Ghetto,” for example, based on his growing up in rural northern Florida, made the points that both blacks and whites were struggling with poverty, and while they stubbornly didn’t want “handouts,” they also didn’t want government or big money taking their land or telling them how to live. “The War” on that same 2007 album, invoked classic pacifist feelings but drew a straight line between the idiocy of international disputes and personal battles. “The Sun Is Shining Down” referenced a close relative’s final days, when the treasure of life itself became more acute, and it becomes a cathartic hymn of immense power.

So as Grey wrote more songs in subsequent albums that alluded to his personal doubts, struggles with alcohol, and dealing with his sudden fame, it struck a chord with many people. Naturally, his albums have also always included tunes immersed in humor and the simple fun of folks rocking out together, and there’s often a tangible spiritual quotient too, but Grey usually wrote about his life, or people he’d known. The good news is that he feels like he’s come through his difficult period, and is reveling in his music like never before.

“If you’re working your guts out and not enjoying it, something’s wrong,” said Grey when we caught up with him by phone recently. He was at his home outside Jacksonville, and preparing for a major renovation, necessitated by Hurricane Matthew last October.

“I’ve been moving air conditioners as we speak,” said Grey. “I’m going through my whole house, cutting out the windows and sheet rock. That hurricane flooded it, so we have a crew coming next week, which will lift the whole house 5 feet higher, and then rebuild the whole foundation. But that hurricane happened last October, so you can see we’re all backed up on getting this done.”

Grey is no stranger to hard physical work, and was working fulltime in HVAC when his band first began to find success. Their first couple albums were on a British label.

“I worked fulltime, even after the band began getting a lot of work, until it got to the point where I’d be losing money by not committing to the music,” Grey explained. “But my employers were great – I could tour six weeks at a time, and have a job waiting for me when I got back. Back in 2002, or 2003, they all came out to see my show at the Mandalay Bay casino, so I still look at those people as part of my family.”

The last couple albums seem to show Grey working out his self doubts.

“I think if there’s a theme it was that all it took was a change of attitude,” said Grey. “I was always happy wherever I was, but just not paying attention. Over the last four or five years, I’ve come to realize I’m living the dream. I’m not just some lousy singer in a band, but someone who’s doing well. We even got to play at the White House, so you’ve got to stop and appreciate it all.”

“I’m singing about me now, most of the time,” Grey added. “I can just write lyrics and not pay attention to what I’m saying, like I’m just doing shorthand for someone else and you want to avoid that. You can become addicted to trying to be clever all the time, and when you do, the music stinks. The best things come when you let it write itself, and then it really works and feels real.”

Self examination has always been one of Grey’s strengths as a writer, but also a tough method.

“I think back then I didn’t like what I was writing,” Grey said. “It’s like, if you’re a scientist, and you spend months trying to figure out some equation, filling up books with facts and figures and still not figuring it out. And then, one day, driving along, it just pops into your head, and you go back and see that you had it all along. You just couldn’t see the connection. I realized I had been preaching to myself for years.”

“That doubt starts to play into everything, and you plaster on a fake smile, and then take an attitude for who knows what reason,” said Grey. “It’s kind of an awesome roadblock to have that opportunity we had, and not appreciate it. I always thought there was something missing. Now I know it’s about sharing an honest moment with my self, and all those around me.”

Fans who’ve enjoyed some of Grey and Mofro’s steamy shows will be perhaps shocked to hear how he feels the old attitude had affected his performances.

“I think in the past, if I did 100 shows, there’d be maybe ten where I was really there like a tuning fork, fully engaged in the moment,” Grey mused. “There would be 40 to 50 shows where I’d be there sometimes, but not all of the time. And then there would be another 40 shows where I’d be not all that engaged, playing AT the people, not TO them. Now I feel like, out of a 100 shows, 95 of them have me as the tuning fork – I’m in the show all the way. My voice is also better than ever – I had pneumonia around a year ago, and it gave me a cough and crushed my vocals for a while.”

Although he’s a product of northern Florida, Grey has plenty of New England ties, since Barnstable’s Dan Prothero has been his record producer since his recording career began. And he’s a close friend of former South Boston funk band leader Spookie Daly, who’s been thriving in a new career as a video director.

“Spookie’s busy making a movie right now,” Grey reported. “The films have sidetracked him from music for a while now, and this is a good sized film he’s shooting. But Spookie did two videos for tunes off our “Ol’ Glory” album, and he filmed a ballet dancer for our “Brave Li’l Fighter” song. He’s doing another film with Danny Aiello, so he’s doing well and enjoying it.”

When we talked Gregg Allman had died about a week before, and the whole southeastern music community was still mourning his loss.

“It wasn’t unexpected but it still hurts,” said Grey. “Coming right after Colonel Bruce Hampton’s passing, which took everyone by surprise, it marks a real changing of the guard for our section of the country. Just to realize Gregg won’t be up there, leading the Allman Brothers Band anymore, is difficult to absorb. Gregg and the Colonel were like the heads of the Southeast Music Mafia, so the baton must be passed now, and I’d guess Derek Trucks and Susan Tedeschi are right up there at the top of this generation.”

Coincidentally, on the night Gregg Allman died, the Tedeschi-Trucks band was headlining the opening of a new arena next to the Jacksonville Jaguars stadium. Grey had not been there but had heard many good reports about that show.

“I was told that after their regular set, Susan and Derek played ‘Statesboro Blues,” Grey noted. “Then the place went almost completely dark and Derek played ‘Amazing Grace’ by himself. I’m sure that was a very moving moment. All of us who make music in this part of the country felt a deep connection to Gregg Allman, and the Allman Brothers Band.”